Enzo Maresca makes 'fresh decision' over two Chelsea outcasts amid lack of transfer offers

Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca is said to have changed his mind over two players, at least for now. The Blues boss has taken a ruthless approach to squad management after taking over in the summer having been handed an extremely bloated squad.

Maresca has defended himself over criticism of his ruthlessness, maintaining that such decisions have been necessary to established a focused main group. He might be right, too, with the Italian having seen Graham Potter struggle with issues arising from having such a big squad in recent times.

A number of senior stars were told the could leave by Maresca ahead of last Friday’s deadline, and Raheem Sterling seemed to be the most controversial case. Sterling has since left to join Arsenal on a loan deal for the rest of the season.

A number of other fringe players also left, including Kepa Arrizabalaga, Romelu Lukaku and many more. Two transfer listed players who did not leave are Carney Chukwuemeka and Cesare Casadei. Chukwuemeka was signed for £20million back in 2022, while Casadei was signed for £12.6 million plus add-ons in the same year.

Neither appear to have made the cut, but neither managed to secure moves ahead of last week’s deadline. While Chelsea could still potentially offload the players to either Greece or Türkiye, with those countries’ windows remaining open, The Athletic now report that both players have been removed from the so-called ‘bomb squad’ that was training separately from the first team and welcomed back to team training.

The report claims both players will be considered along with their first team teammates from here on out, at least until the January transfer window opens. With Chukwuemeka and Casadei unlikely to feature, they will both likely be looking forward to January already, but they will at least get their chance to impress Maresca.

Maresca’s tough stance

Maresca has recently said of his so-called bomb squad: “The only thing I can say is the ones who are going to get minutes are the ones who I think can help us. It’s not just Raheem [Sterling]. It’s all the players who are training apart. The moment the transfer window closes, they are not going to get minutes.”

Since then, the majority of the bomb squad members have departed with the exception of Chukwuemeka and Casadei, who have rejoined the main squad, and David Dator Fofana, who the club will look to offload before the closure of the Greek and Turkish windows. Maresca will have to name his 25-man Premier League squad next week.